Eighty-nine years ago a rivalry was born. Times have changed. Back in 1924 The Model-T was probably the hottest car you could own. Calvin Coolidge was president. Gas was 21-cents a gallon. A new car cost on average $398. A new house cost on average $7,720. Times have changed. One thing has stayed the same though. That one thing is the Fillmore vs. Santa Paula game.

Only twice during that time did Fillmore and Santa Paula not play. Those years were 1942 and 1969. This game means a lot to a lot of people.

“No matter where you are in the country you always want to know what happened in that game, its tradition,” said Joe Woods who experienced this rivalry from 1975-1978 along with his step-dad Robert Spitler (1936-39), brother-in-law Javier Aguilar (1970-74), Shane Woods (late 80’s/early 90’s), Robby Aguilar (late 90’s/ early 2000’s) and his nephew JD Smallwood (2008-2011). Joe even coached this rivalry. “It’s in our veins” Woods said.

When I asked Kameron Klein of Santa Paula what this rivalry means to him he said, “Two towns pitted against each other to play for bragging rights. It’s unbelievable. You can win CIF and [still] have a bad year because you lost against Fillmore.”

Eighty-nine years and 102 games. That’s a long time. As a matter of fact that’s longer than the UCLA vs. USC rivalry. I asked Joe and Kameron why this rivalry went on so long. Joe simply said, “There wouldn’t be a football season without playing Santa Paula”. He also stated, “Not playing Santa Paula would be like eating the ice cream cone without the ice cream.” Kameron said, “We’re so close that it would be wrong to not play each other,” adding, “Its tradition and some traditions shouldn’t be broken”.

What makes this rivalry so special is that it has been going on for generations. Some kids who recently played or are playing have had parents who played, grandparents who played, great-grandparents who played, and maybe even great-great-grandparents who played. Not only that but you grew up playing with some of the kids you played against whether you played for the Fillmore Raiders or the Santa Paula football league. And… we’re only 9 miles apart!

I even asked Joe and Kameron what their favorite game was playing for their respective teams. Joe said his was “Junior year in 1977 when I started against Santa Paula and we beat them 6-0 in Santa Paula and held them to 0 yards passing for 0 completions”. Kameron said his was the 101st game against Fillmore. “It was a game full of huge momentum shifts. I remember we were down 20-23 in the second overtime facing a 4th and 3 with the game on the line. Both crowds were going crazy. The Fillmore crowd was chanting DEFENSE! The Santa Paula crowd was chanting OFFENSE! It was defining. I remember the game was on my shoulders to get the first down and I did and we won the game 26-23.”

There is always a buzz around both schools and towns during rivalry week. Good luck Flashes and Cardinals. A lot is on the line this week. Live it up. It is expected that there is going to be a sell-out crowd and it’s going to be electric.